Blessed Honored Pioneer - Lucy Simmons Groves

 

Lucy Simmons Groves is my 4th great grandmother. Though she endured many hardships in her life she pressed onward and forward and always maintained her strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today I want to share the story of the births of her children (that touch my heart as a mother) and her journey to escape persecution.

Lucy and Elisha were married 14 January 1836 in Kirtland, Geauga, Ohio. From there they traveled to Clay county, Missouri. Lucy traveled with her friends and family and Elisha traveled separately preaching along the way. He met up with them before they reached their destination in the summer of 1836. They moved in the fall from Clay county to what would become Far West, Caldwell, Missouri and their first child, a daughter, Mary Leah Groves was born 30 October 1836.

Two years later in the fall of 1838 the mob drove them from their home in Far West. In either October or November their second child and first son, John Simmons Groves was born. He only lived a few months.

The images below are from the LDS Church History Library. They are Mormon Redress Petitions (aka Missouri Claims) from 1839-1845. These are statements pertaining to grievances suffered by the Mormons in Missouri, 1833-1839. The majority are petitions collected for the purpose of presentation as redress bills before the United States Congress. These 2 images are Elisha's petition for redress. 

The mob drove them from their home and took all of their property and left them "without a shelter to cover from the storm." It is assumed that their son John Simmons was born during this time.

Image: MS 2703_b0001_f0012_00043

Image: MS 2703_b0001_f0012_00044

The family then moved to Columbus, Adams, Illinois (this is where the above redress was written) and where on 14 September 1840 their third child, another son, Samuel Elisha Groves was born.

After Samuel's birth, the family moved to Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois where 11 months later their fourth child, another daughter, Patience Sibyl Groves was born on 18 August 1841. Some records list her birth as 1843. Though she is quoted in family records as saying she was 7 years old in 1848 when she walked to the Salt Lake Valley.

The fifth child, another daughter, Sarah Matilda Groves was born 14 February 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, A mob had come to their home and told them that they must either renounce Mormonism or they had only one hour in which to leave. If they were still there at the end of that time the mob would kill the whole family. That night, during a terrible storm, without shelter or protection Lucy gave birth to Sarah. They then crossed the frozen Mississippi River less than two weeks later on 26 February 1846. Can you imagine four young children, with one of them being a 12 day old infant in those conditions? They reached Council Bluffs, Harrison, Iowa in late July 1846 and Sarah Matilda died in October 1846 of cholera.

Now Lucy has three living young children. Her half brother Samuel Thompson enlisted with the Mormon Battalion at Winter Quarters and left his two young children with Lucy to care for and take to the Salt Lake Valley. The Groves family stayed in Winter Quarters until late Spring 1848.

During the preparation to leave Winter Quarters for the Salt Lake Valley Lucy gave birth to their sixth child, another daughter, Lucy Maria Groves on 7 May 1848. Ten days later at 2 pm they left Winter Quarters in Brigham Young's company. Can you imagine six young children the youngest less than two weeks old?

The following took place less than one month later and this excerpt is taken from Thomas Bullock's Journal:

So my dear ancestor Lucy, having just had a baby 4 weeks previous, is sick and she fell out of the front of the wagon and the wheels of the wagon crushed her breast breaking ribs and then breaking her leg.

Nine days later, her eldest daughter Mary Leah was helping take care of the family and accidentally stumbled over her mother's leg breaking it a second time. The pain was so severe that Lucy told Elisha that he would have to pull the wagon out of the train and stop because she could not go on further.

The following excerpt is from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young:

Brigham Young would not leave them alone on the trail. He helped her so that she could ride in a little more comfort. They made it to the Salt Lake Valley with their four young children and the two young Thompson children and Lucy continued to heal. She had a limp and used a cane for the remainder of her life.

I am so grateful for her courage, patience and long suffering. Often when my days seem difficult with my two young children, I remember her and her trials and I take courage that my life isn't as difficult. I have a home where I can exercise my faith and my freedoms. For these reasons and many more, I thank Lucy and all those who traveled the trail.

My Family's Visit to the FamilySearch Discovery Center

Our family visited the FamilySearch Discovery Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 15, 2015. I had previously visited by myself in February as part of a media visit during RootsTech. You can read about my visit and about how to navigate the various stations in the center at this link: 
FamilySearch Discovery Center

Today's post is about my family's visit and my observations with having my young family there.

In the FamilySearch area of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, you can get a free souvenir photo taken as though you are on the dock arriving in New York City. I especially love Matthew's closed eyes in the above photo. It must have been a long and tiring journey for him. Once the photo is taken, you enter your email address and it is immediately sent to you. Anyone visiting Temple Square should go get a free photo; it is separate from the Discovery Center experience.

In the Discovery Center, when you arrive you are given an iPad and you Sign In with your FamilySearch account and then take a picture of yourself for the adventure. FamilySearch accounts are available for anyone over the age of 8 years. My children are not yet that old; my daughter is getting close though.

Here is a picture of my husband for his Discovery adventure.

Children are then given these items: A hat and a bag containing a map, magnifying glass, binoculars, pencil, notebook, and according to my daughter "wooden circles about families". This is my 2nd visit and I still haven't figured out exactly what is in that bag and the activity that goes along with the map. I am too attached to the iPad stations. I know the map matches the iPad stations that the parents and older children are using. I just don't know what the entire activity is about. The next time we visit, I am going to figure this out.

At one of the iPad stations you learn about your name. Here is information about my husband's name. My information is in my February blog post as mentioned above. I was intrigued that it gave Scott information for both his first and middle name.






















Not only is his first, middle, and last name Scottish, his heritage is 28% Scottish and he chose this photo in the photo booth. I love the look on his face; I giggle all the time when I see it.

We had our children also take pictures in the photo booth using our logged in iPads. Here is Emma in a German outfit; though her heritage is less than 24% German (my login). It will be fun and interesting for her when she is 8 years old next year to visit the Discovery Center under her own login.

At the photo booth you can also switch to other heritages to see what you would look like. Emma really liked this outfit and had fun becoming "Ukrainian" for just a moment.

I call this photo "The One Eyed Ancient Roman"! It can be really hard for a young child to hold still while the computer takes the picture. In many of the images you have to tilt your head to match the picture and it is hard enough for an adult to do, let alone a young child. Still this photo makes me giggle.

I found this interesting thing when my iPad was docked at the map station. In February the program showed that my first chronological ancestor to convert to the LDS Church was Lucy Simmons on 8 March 1832. During this experience in June the program showed that my first convert ancestor was Elisha Hurd Groves and it shows the same date! Lucy and Elisha later marry on 14 January 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio.

Elisha was living in Indiana when he was baptized on 8 March 1832 by Elder Calvin Beebe. He had been taught about the Book of Mormon in September 1831 by Elder Samuel H. Smith (brother of Joseph) and Elder Reynolds Cahoon. The gospel also came to Lucy's home in the fall of 1831 in New York and she was baptized on 8 March 1832 by Elder Samuel H. Smith (brother of Joseph). It is amazing to me that they were both baptized on the very same day and that Elder Samuel H. Smith had influenced both of their lives and then later on 14 January 1836 they marry by the counsel of the Prophet Joseph.

Here are some photos of my children playing with some of the activities that are just outside the Discovery Center room. They enjoyed this area the most.

Again, I hope you are interested in visiting the FamilySearch Discovery Center on your next trip to Salt Lake City. We chose to schedule our visit with the Discovery Center to guarantee that we would be able to get in at the date and time that worked for us. While we were visiting the center, others were able to walk-in without an appointment as there were openings at the time they arrived. You cannot count on having walk-in time available. The center can accommodate larger groups up to 30 people. Follow this link to schedule your visit and learn more about the FamilySearch Discovery Center: https://familysearch.org/discoverycenter

#DiscoverMyStory     #FamilySearch

FamilySearch Discovery Center

On Friday, February 13th, during RootsTech, I had the opportunity to experience the new FamilySearch Discovery Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. If you are planning on visiting Salt Lake City, this is a "must do" for your itinerary. I had heard about this place in September 2014 during another family history conference and had been waiting impatiently for an opportunity to visit. I'm so excited that it is finally open to everyone.

When you arrive you are given an iPad and you Sign In with your FamilySearch account.  Then you take a picture of yourself for the adventure.







You move throughout a half dozen stations (with huge touch screen monitors) where you dock your iPad with its amazing magnetic case.

The first station I visited provided information about my name and the events of the year I was born.

I could adjust the year and look at anytime in history. 

Next I decided to visit the photo booth. Again I docked the iPad and the screen instructed me to hold still and the camera automatically adjusted to my height. Then I saw images of women with the percentage of my ethnicity. I chose a few images and held my hand in the air to select the option that took my picture and placed my head in the image of the woman.  Here are the two I chose to keep:

There is a recording booth for telling your own story. I didn't take advantage of that experience on this visit; though I plan to on a future visit. You need to bring your own USB for saving your recordings.

The next station I docked at was the maps. I could stay at this station for hours. This is where the majority of the group I was with spent most of our time.

This image to the right was emailed to me at the end of my visit.  All the images in this post with the #DiscoverMyStory banner at the lower right cover were emailed to me.  All other images are ones I took with my low resolution cell phone camera. The next few images are photos of what was on the touch screens.

This is my 4th great grandmother and according to this display she was my 1st chronological ancestor to convert to the LDS Church in 1832.  This is intriguing to me, because her mother also joined the LDS Church very early. Though when I look at her mother Leah Lewis' records in FamilySearch, her baptism date is listed as being vicariously performed in 1943.  Though I know from other records that Leah herself performed vicarious baptism ordinances for others in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842. Very intriguing mystery that needs to be solved.

When you touch an ancestor's dot on the map, this data card opens up and shows you information about the ancestor: Their name, their relationship to you, their birth and death date and any photos and stories.  The information about them comes from FamilySearch Family Tree. If nothing comes up, that just means you have more work to do in finding photos and stories of your ancestors.

This image shows family migration.

You can zoom into any area of the map. This is where my great grandparents are from in Germany.

My grandparents in Iowa and Illinois.

The last station I docked at was what I call the time machine. 

I could select anyone from my fan chart and look at stories and images on a large screen. I could also shift the time frame and view an interactive old home and I could tap images in the room and read stories about that time frame. I would like to come back to this place and explore more.

There are activities for young children as well, though they will probably be enamored with the iPad.




A map and magnify glass ... going on a treasure hunt.

Outside of the center room there are other activities for young children.

I hope you are interested in visiting this new Discovery Center on your next trip to Salt Lake City. Follow this link to schedule your visit and learn more about the FamilySearch Discovery Center:
https://familysearch.org/discoverycenter

#RootsTech    #DiscoverMyStory   #FamilySearch